Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89093 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Incapable of arguing against the absolute honesty in my tone, Isaac gives in with a chin dip before offering to help me into my coat. The puffiness of the material stuffing it seems ridiculous for the Floridian climate, but Isaac doesn’t give me hell about it because he knows I’m not going back to my hotel this evening. I’m going to surprise JR on what is officially our first anniversary.
I still can’t believe it’s only been a year. The love I have for that man makes every day feel like fifty, but in a good way. Not once have I felt the dread that bombarded me when I considered taking the next step with Cedric. I got hives when he asked me to marry him. When JR did the same with the stem of a wildflower he twisted into a ring, I wept happy tears.
He lives such a humble, basic existence because all his richness resides in his heart.
After pulling my hair out of the collar of my winter coat, I spin around to face Isaac. “Don’t,” he begs when he spots the wetness in my eyes. “If you cry, Isabelle will cry. If she cries…” He doesn’t finish his sentence. He doesn’t need to. His balled-up fists tell me everything I need to know. “Now get out there and say goodbye so I can take my wife home to tuck our children into their beds.”
There’s no chance of me holding back my tears when I step out of my office. Everyone is here—Isabelle, Hugo, Hunter, Regan, Alex, and their drooling baby boy. Ryan, Trinity, and Trace, the clerk at the hotel who tried to warn me about the FBI’s impending arrival by scribbling it onto the dry-cleaning bags he gifted me. Even my parents are here. But no matter how fast they make my heart patter, its flutters are nothing on the ones that bombard me when I spot who’s standing at the end of the long line of farewellers, looking oddly out of place in snow boots, Wrangler jeans, and a scruffy beard that’s growing fast but isn’t close to the length it was one year ago.
“I told you, you didn’t have to come,” I sign to JR before throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.
My heart melts when he whispers into my ear. “I w-wanted to come.”
He’s come so far with his speech the past twelve months, but he has the occasional slip-ups when he’s thrust into a situation he’s not comfortable with. Traveling to a town that borders the one that gives him nightmares would be daunting to anyone.
We spend all our time at the cabin for this exact reason. After spending the six weeks of my holiday I was supposed to use touring Europe at the cabin with JR, I returned to Ravenshoe. I lasted a whole three days before I chucked a sickie so I could return to the cabin for a long weekend.
With it obvious that three days was the absolute limit I could stretch to before I needed my JR fill, Isaac reduced my in-office hours to match my somewhat insatiable needs.
His understanding made it a blissfully beautiful twelve months, but it’s no longer enough. An hour is too long to go without seeing JR, so when three days became tortuous, I knew it was time to make some changes.
JR has supported me all the way, and every time I return to the cabin, there’s a new piece of furniture for me to take in or a new wing to help sand and stain.
After pulling back so I can take in JR’s deliciously sexy face, I say, “Since you’re here, can you spare five minutes so I can show you something?”
He nods without hesitation, my every wish always on the forefront of his mind.
When I stray my eyes to Isaac, he dips his chin, granting my request before suggesting for everyone to convene in the conference room for a round of drinks while I freshen up. I should have realized the platters of food he had delivered today weren’t his only parting gift. He’s grown a fascination for planning surprise parties ever since Isabelle caught him unaware with one the day they married.
“If you can take a seat on the chair in the far corner of the room, I’ll be right with you.” This is the part where I’d usually switch off the lighting to showcase this room’s abilities to its full extent, but since JR needs to see my lips and hands to communicate, I keep them on.
JR’s dark brows cinch together when I snag a bottle of gel off the shelf on my right and a handful of paper towels from the sink. “It isn’t what you’re thinking,” I mutter, grinning about his deviant mind. “And when have we ever needed lubricant?”